EVERYDAY PRAYER

Memory of the Saints and the Prophets
Word of god every day

Memory of the Saints and the Prophets

Today the Byzantine Church venerates Saint Sabbas (†532), “the Archimandrite of all the hermits of Palestine.” Read more

Libretto DEL GIORNO
Memory of the Saints and the Prophets
Wednesday, December 5

Today the Byzantine Church venerates Saint Sabbas (†532), “the Archimandrite of all the hermits of Palestine.”


Reading of the Word of God

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

You are a chosen race,
a royal priesthood, a holy nation,
a people acquired by God
to proclaim his marvellous works.

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

Romans 1, 16-17

For I see no reason to be ashamed of the gospel; it is God's power for the salvation of everyone who has faith -- Jews first, but Greeks as well-

for in it is revealed the saving justice of God: a justice based on faith and addressed to faith. As it says in scripture: Anyone who is upright through faith will live.

 

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

You will be holy,
because I am holy, thus says the Lord.

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

Paul just spoke about his desire to preach the Gospel in Rome. His desire is not the result of some presumption or obsession on his part. The apostle knows that the Gospel is a treasure that was given to him and that he should communicate to others, especially to the pagans. And he is not ashamed of it because the Gospel contains the “power of God”, that is, a force capable of actuating “salvation to everyone who has faith.” Hence, the righteousness of God is understood as a righteousness that saves, not condemns. And faith is, above all else, not adherence to a particular doctrine, but full and total adherence to Jesus, who transforms the heart and pushes it to live according to the newness of the Gospel. And everyone, first the Jews and then also the Greeks, are called to welcome the Lord. The eagerness to communicate this Gospel of Jesus “devours” the apostle Paul. This eagerness, in truth, ought to devour the disciples of every generation. And we can say that at the beginning of this new millennium a renewed and impassioned preaching of the Gospel is urgent. To underline this urgency of faith, the apostle cites a passage from the prophet Habakkuk: “Look at the proud! Their spirit is not right in them, but the righteous live by their faith” (Habakkuk 2:4). Whoever does not have an upright soul is impious, someone who distanced himself from God. The righteous, instead, are those who continue to remain faithful to God and to entrust themselves to Him. This is why true life comes only from faith, from abandoning oneself to God. There are many ways people today seek to give meaning to their life. Often they follow paths that reveal themselves to be uncertain and misleading. The way to obtain a full life is by following the path illuminated by faith and by the fear of God. It is the way of Jesus: whoever follows the Gospel conquers sin and death and becomes participants in His resurrection. The Gospel, therefore, is a force that changes; it is an energy that transforms. And Paul is a direct testimony of this: his very life was transformed and put in service to the Lord. Since the beginning, the apostle wants to underline this theme that develops through the course of his entire letter.

WORD OF GOD EVERY DAY: THE CALENDAR

Prayer is the heart of the life of the Community of Sant'Egidio and is its absolute priority. At the end of the day, every the Community of Sant'Egidio, large or small, gathers around the Lord to listen to his Word. The Word of God and the prayer are, in fact, the very basis of the whole life of the Community. The disciples cannot do other than remain at the feet of Jesus, as did Mary of Bethany, to receive his love and learn his ways (Phil. 2:5).
So every evening, when the Community returns to the feet of the Lord, it repeats the words of the anonymous disciple: " Lord, teach us how to pray". Jesus, Master of prayer, continues to answer: "When you pray, say: Abba, Father". It is not a simple exhortation, it is much more. With these words Jesus lets the disciples participate in his own relationship with the Father. Therefore in prayer, the fact of being children of the Father who is in heaven, comes before the words we may say. So praying is above all a way of being! That is to say we are children who turn with faith to the Father, certain that they will be heard.
Jesus teaches us to call God "Our Father". And not simply "Father" or "My Father". Disciples, even when they pray on their own, are never isolated nor they are orphans; they are always members of the Lord's family.
In praying together, beside the mystery of being children of God, there is also the mystery of brotherhood, as the Father of the Church said: "You cannot have God as father without having the church as mother". When praying together, the Holy Spirit assembles the disciples in the upper room together with Mary, the Lord's mother, so that they may direct their gaze towards the Lord's face and learn from Him the secret of his Heart.
 The Communities of Sant'Egidio all over the world gather in the various places of prayer and lay before the Lord the hopes and the sufferings of the tired, exhausted crowds of which the Gospel speaks ( Mat. 9: 3-7 ), In these ancient crowds we can see the huge masses of the modern cities, the millions of refugees who continue to flee their countries, the poor, relegated to the very fringe of life and all those who are waiting for someone to take care of them. Praying together includes the cry, the invocation, the aspiration, the desire for peace, the healing and salvation of the men and women of this world. Prayer is never in vain; it rises ceaselessly to the Lord so that anguish is turned into hope, tears into joy, despair into happiness, and solitude into communion. May the Kingdom of God come soon among people!

WORD OF GOD EVERY DAY: THE CALENDAR